//------------------------------// // The Home that I Lost. // Story: Touched by the Light // by Order or Chaos //------------------------------// Confusion erupts through me first, followed by fear, as more and more screams rise in the distance. My world twists as I become scared, clinging to dad's leg with all my might. My father has a grim look and after removing me: goes to the widow. His expression turns into a grimace of anger and fear. Rushing to a corner, he swiftly puts on his armor that was stashed there. "Honey, keep Agate, Bright and yourself safe. Don't leave house, hide." He says to mom, while pulling out a sword. "What's going on out there, Bilbo?!" "Just keep yourselves safe and don't leave the house! Wait for a of guards to arrive!" Dad shouts as he runs out onto the street. A throbbing pain runs through my head and I find myself suddenly standing outside, where guards in black, spiky armor are marching down the street to us. A lot of guards are lying on the ground pools of red liquid pooling beneath them. The sky itself is no longer a bright blue, but is tainted by a dark grey curtain of clouds rising from parts of the castle and behind a few houses. A single helmless warrior is standing shakily far in front of us. It's my dad. "Surrender to the might of our King, or be indisposed for life." One of the green-eyed Ponies says coldly. "I'd rather fucking die, than to ever surrender to a traitor!" The tall figures move in on my dad, as he begins to spin his strange sword. I shout in fear, reaching toward him. He hears my call and quickly looks back, eyes widening. The stallion puts on a mask of determination and twists back to the very near soldiers. I hear a 'run' from somewhere, but I can't move my legs. I helplessly watch, frozen in shock as dad begins cutting an splicing A stone suddenly flies past my head and hits a soldier, that was getting a bit too close to dad, staggering them in the process. Dad takes notice of this and swings his sword at the soldiers neck, making their helmet fall off. I spin around to see Agate glaring and scowling at what is behind me, while I gasp at what is behind her. I point at the soldiers marching down the other end of the street and take a step back. "I said run!" A slashing noise, a sound of something being cut and a wet splash reverberate through the air, followed by metal colliding. "What is so difficult to understand?!" "Dad, there are more coming!" I warn him. Taking a few steps back, he turns around and mutters something at the sight of reinforcements. He bucks a soldier, that was creeping up on him, indenting the armor and making them fall onto the ground. “Get to the South Gate and flee with the rest! I will cover you!” “But what about you?!” Silence reigns on the street, except for the sound of metal against crystal and fire burning. “Dad?!” “Daddy?!” “ Don’t worry, I will try to reach you, but you have to-!” Dad slips up. His hooves glide across the red liquid, making him fall onto one of the soldiers spears. No. “...Noooo!” My voice trails off at a high pitch as my knees tremble and I fall down onto the crystal street. “I’m- sorry… Get- to- safety-y…” I watch as the black thing slides it’s spear out of my father. It’s bright green orbs meet my furious ones. I can feel someone pulling at my side as I am struggling to get to it, but I am too angry to care. I hear sis calling out my name as I stare, with emotions I never felt before, at the approaching soldier. Who suddenly erupts in flames. A strange Unicorn comes out of an alleyway to the side, his horn set ablaze with a white light. He doesn’t look like any Pony I have seen before. For one: his horn is longer, that of any other Unicorn I’ve met and there are a few other oddities about him that I can’t quite place, but it is his eyes that intrigue me the most. The blue depths seem to first show anger, then surprise and finally - sorrow. He looks at us. “Come with me if you desire to live.” “How can we trust you?!” Agate exclaims by my side, while I silently look at the stallion, that hurt the one who hurt daddy. “I have no reason to harm you. Besides: these are your only options at the moment - either them... or me. You will just have to trust me.” Sis and I wordlessly look at each other, then I look at dad. Finally making a decision: I run over to the unicorn, with watery vision, Agate following close behind. When we reach him, his horn shines once more and a wall of a strange bluish-white material appears, closing off the entrance to the alleyway. “Come on, we must hurry.” “D-dad told us to get to the South Gate.” Agate said looking up at him. “The South Gate?.. That is actually really smart. Very well: let’s not waste any time - the ice won’t hold them off for long.” Buildings zip past us as we sprint across the Empire’s capital. We hear more screams and see more fire, before we arrive at a big open area I have never seen before, which is has chunks of crystal and fallen trees lying around. A familiar dark-red Dragon is standing over a broken fountain with widely spread wings, breathing blinding fire at the dark soldiers that are trying to get to him. “Sir Grey, it’s us! Over here!” I shout when the flames subside. He swings his head to us, his golden eyes widening. “Bright? What are you all doing here, why are you not with guards?” “They have fallen.” I hear the unicorns voice echo. Greywings’ expression darkens even more. “...I see. I shall aid you in escaping this place, there is not much left of our city to protect I am afraid.” The Dragon says somberly before launching more torrents of flames at a few sneaky meanies. “Climb on.” He turns his back to us and lowers the big tail, still breathing fire at troops, that are on the other side of the area. I didn’t hesitate a moment, rushing to get up on him. However: Polaris and Agate were looking dubious and didn’t take off immediately, but when they saw me climb up onto Greywings’ spine: both of them leaped across the square and sat behind me, getting a solid grip on sir Grey’s back. Spreading his ashen wings and roaring at the enemy below, Greywing launches up in the air with a mighty flap. We soar through the skies, above the destruction below, I can’t see a single Pony in the streets. A few of the familiar fields ahead are set ablaze and the ground is scorched… while some place are covered in ice. I hear a growling hum come from somewhere. “The other two Dragons must have been here. But where has the ice come from? And in such an unnatural formation as well.” True to Grewings’ word, the spikes of ice look as if they were grown. Is ice a type of crystal? “I am unsure, but I feel like- watch out!” We get lurched to the side and I don’t even have time to ask what is going on, when a massive crystal obelisk comes flying past my right side. A deafening roar cuts through the air as we rapidly begin losing height at an angle. We are tumbling down at high speeds, but I manage to keep my head facing the rapidly approaching land below, flailing about all my limbs. I know the others are screaming as well, but I can only hear myself. The white ground is only a few hooves away from my muzzle, when I hear a distant bone-chilling howl and everything goes black.